Initial Attraction
by Scarlet182
Summary: What can a bunch of simple letters do?...Obviously a lot. - - - *Story Complete*- - -
1. Prologue

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Disclaimer: I do not, I repeat, I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for Hannah Blair, Mrs. Pallette, Toby, and some of the parentals. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' I was inspired to write this story from a movie that I saw a long time ago, though I can't remember the title. You'll just have to read and find out, and please review J

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Initial Attraction

Prologue - Chapter 1

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A long time ago, when everyone was around eight years old…

"Caitie! Caitie! Come here!" a little girl in blond called out.

"Just wait!" answered the brown-haired girl in pigtails.

"Caitie!" she called out again.

"Val, just wait, OK?" she cried. "What do you want anyway?"

"Come here!" she called out. 

"Val, what are you doing?" Caitie asked

"A curse," Val answered innocently.

"What?" she exclaimed. "Are you nuts or something? Did Robbie Morrison hit you in the head again?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine," Val convinced her. "Anyway, this isn't just any type of curse."

"Oh, I didn't know there were other types of curses," Caitie added humorously.

"Caitie!" she yelled exasperated.

"This curse will determine who will be our prince," Val began to explain. "The prince charming of our lives."

"Val, you watch too many Disney movies," Caitie told her.

"I do not!" she retorted.

"Then why are you going on and on about these prince charming stuff?" Caitie asked her.

"Because it's rom--…, roman--…," Val began to respond.

"Romantic?" said Caitie.

"Yea, romantic," said Val. "Can you do it with me. Please!!!"

"I don't like all that mushy stuff," Caitie replied, trying to find an excuse.

"Please!!!" Val pleaded while giving her the puppy dog eyes.

"OK, fine," Caitie finally agreed. "But only because you really wanted to do it."

"You're the best, Caitie," Val said before going back through her things.

"So, who should start?" Caitie asked.

"I will!" called out Val.

"How is this supposed to work?" Caitie asked.

"You get one box, and I get another one," explained Val. "Then, you write the things that you look for in your prince charming."

"Would you stop with that prince charming thing already!" Caitie told her.

"Then, when we grow up, only then will we be happy if we truly find this prince charming," Val said as she ignored Caitie's comments.

"OK, you start," Caitie spoke.

"OK," said Val. "First, he has to have blond hair and blue eyes like me. Second, he has to be taller than me because I don't want to be taller than him because that would just…"

"Val, hurry up already," Caitie said irritably.

"Third, he has to have the perfect smile," she continued. "Then, he has to be a gentlemen."

"Man," Caitie corrected.

"Gentleman," she stated. "Next, he has to be a sporty boy like Dad. And last, his first letters have to be T, P, and C because that stands for **T**he **P**rince** C**harming."

"You're nuts," Caitie told her with a laugh.

"How rude!" Val exclaimed. "Now it's your turn."

"Do I have to?" Caitie asked in hopes of getting out of this.

"Yes," Val told her.

"Fine," she said. "Well, I don't know. This is hard."

"Hurry up, Caitie," Val told her.

"Just wait, Val," Caitie said. "I don't want him to be a goody-goody, but he has to be nice."

"Then write that down," Val said.

"Just wait, Val, OK?" Caitie said to Val in annoyance. "First, he has to be nice but not a goody-goody. Second, he has to be taller than me. Third, he has to have dark hair like me and brown eyes. Then, he also has to have the best smile. Next, he has to like cars and motor--…, motor--…"

"Motorcycles," Val butted in.

"Motorcycles," Caitie said. "Like my dad. And last, I don't know about his name."

"Hurry up, Caitie," Val told her again. "My mom's almost coming."

"Val, just wait!" Caitie told her. "Just wait! Just wait! Just wait!"

"Maybe that should be his name," Val said as an idea came to her.

"What?" Caitie asked.

"His name should have 'wait' in it since you say it too many times," Val told her friend.

"That's not fair," Caitie replied. "That's a stupid name."

"It could be his last name," Val told her.

"Then what about his other names?" Caitie asked again.

"Well, since you keep saying 'just' wait, his first name should start with J, while his second name should start with T," Val told Caitie.

"What about the U and the S?" Caitie inquired.

"I hate U's and S's," Val said. "Is that fine?"

"I hate them, too," Caitie informed her. "Where do we write this stuff?"

"On this paper," Val said as she handed her a piece of paper. "You write yours down, and I'll write mine."

Val wrote hers on the pink paper, while Caitie wrote hers on the blue.

Val

    1. blond hair and blue eyes
    2. taller than me
    3. perfect smile
    4. sporty like Dad
    5. gentalman
    6. T. P. C. - the prince charming

Caitie

    1. nice, but not a goody-goody
    2. taller than me
    3. dark hair like me and brown eyes
    4. like motorsycols and cars like my dad

"Val, how do you spell 'wait'?" Caitie asked her.

"I don't know," she said. "W-a-i-t-e?"

"OK, thanks," Caitie told her.

    5. J. T. Waite

After they finished writing on the paper, they each put it in their own box.

"Caitie, do you have tape?" asked Val.

"I don't know," Caitie replied as she went to find her mom. "Mrs. Pallette!!! Do we have tape?"

"Mrs. Pallette!!!" followed Val. "Do you have a tape?"

"Caitlin Ava Roth and Valerie Anne Lanier, it's not lady-like to yell," she said.

"Sorry," they both said simultaneously while Caitie went towards her. 

"Where's the tape?" Caitie asked.

"The sticky kind?" she asked.

"The sticky kind," Caitie said.

"Here you go honey," Mrs. Pallette said as she handed Caitie the tape.

"Thank you," she said.

Caitie ran back to the table and handed Val the tape.

"Here you go, Val," Caitie said.

"Thanks," Val said. "Now, we have to seal the boxes.

"Yay, fun," Caitie replied as the two of them cut out long strips of tape.

A few minutes later, the roll of tape rolled on the floor with no more tape left.

"So, how are we supposed to open this?" Caitie asked Val.

"I don't know," Val said as she and Caitie laughed.

* * *

As the two girls giggled and laughed, they were oblivious to the fact that two boys were listening to them intently.

"I believe in curses," Hank said.

"Hank, only girls believe in that stuff," Toby said.

"Well, I'm not a girl, so you must be wrong," Hank told his friend.

Toby became silent.

"So, do you believe in those stuff about who you'll marry?" Toby asked Hank.

"Do you want to know a secret?" Hank asked Toby.

"Of course," he said loud enough for the whole class to hear.

"You better promise not to tell anyone," Hank told him.

"I promise," he said

"I'm going to be married to a girl with the same first and last name as I do," Hank told Toby.

"You're marrying yourself?" Toby asked in shock, and once again with the whole class hearing them.

The room was filled with laughter.

"No, I'm not marrying myself," Hank whispered to Toby. "It's more like the first letter of her first name and the first letter of her last name is the same as I am."

"Cool," Toby said.

"But she has to be different," Hank added.

"How?" Toby asked.

"I don't know," Hank said as he drew a circle, with two H's and B's in them.

The teacher heard what they were all talking about, and just laughed silently to herself in amusement. 

* * *

"Tyler, hurry up now honey," called Tyler's mom.

"I'm coming," Tyler said.

The Connells were on a camping trip, along with their next door neighbors, the Blairs. They were almost ready to leave.

"Hannah, do you believe in curses?" Tyler asked his friend. "You know, magic?"

"Not really" Hannah replied.

"Well, I do," Tyler said. "I should think of something that is almost impossible that probably would not happen."

"Like what?" asked Hannah

"What if I make a curse about the girl who I will live happily ever after with?" stated. 

"You watch too many Disney movies," said Hannah. 

"OK, so I should think of something impossible," Tyler began to speak again. "What about the letters of her names? Hmm, what if she has to have three names and the first letter of her three names would be her first name?" 

"That would be weird," said Hannah. 

"Well, it doesn't have to be her first name," added Tyler. "Maybe her nickname or something. Yea, that's it. That would be totally impossible."

As he made up his mind, he picked up a sharp stone and carved something on the tree beside him. It wasn't an easy task, but he managed to do it.

"There," he said as he finished carving it faintly on the tree.

The carvings stated: Me + ???

"You're very weird Tyler," said Hannah.

"Tyler Parker Connell, get here this instant," cried his mom.

"OK, Mom," he called out before picking up his stuff and leaving, with Hannah right behind him.

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"Jamie!!!" called out Mrs. Waite as she looked for a dark-haired little boy in the playroom. "Oh, there you are?"

Jamie was riding on the little car simulator.

"Mom, can I stay for a few more minutes, please?" Jamie begged.

"Jamie, you've been here for 3 hours honey," said Mrs. Waite.

"But I love this car," Jamie said.

"I thought you love motorcycles," said Jamie's mother

"Can't I love both at the same time?" Jamie asked.

"No, you can only love one of them, honey," teased her mother.

"Fine, then I love cars," Jamie said.

"Jamie, honey, a car is only an object," Mrs. Waite said. "You can't marry a car."

"Well, I'm going to marry a car," Jamie smugly told his mother. "C-a-r. Car. And I'm going to have a motorcycle as well. And you can't stop me."

"Whatever you say, honey," said his amused mother. "Come on now, James Timothy Waite. We'll be late."

"Don't call me that," Jamie complained as he stood next to his mom.

* * *

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I have to stop it right here…but I'll be back J ~ Scarlet182

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	2. Point of View: Caitie and Jamie

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' This is the first of the upcoming "Point of View" chapters. The first one is for Caitie and Jamie. Jamie's thoughts will be italicized in black, while Caitie's will be italicized in blue. 

Note: I originally wrote the prologue to have occurred 8 years ago. Well, ignore that. I made the correction already. Let's just say that it happened when they were all around 8 years old. The following chapters will begin in the supposedly "present" time, although most of the things will delve into the time between the prologue and the "present" time. That wasn't too confusing was it?

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Initial Attraction

Point of View: Caitie and Jamie - Chapter 2

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Even though summer was not officially over until mid-September, it might as well have ended. Within a week I was going to start school again. High school of all things. It's not that I didn't want to go to high school. I just feel that I was robbed of my summer vacation. I knew many people that will be going to Kingsport High, but I also knew there would be more. At least I got Val…

"So, are you excited?" Val asked ecstatically.

"What do you think?" Caitie told her.

"Come on, Caitie," Val said defeated. "This is high school. A new school. The beginning of a new adventure. It'll be fun."

"In my case it isn't," Caitie told her. "This is just another lab using the youth as guinea pigs for their new found way of human torture."

"I always admired your way with words," Val told her. "Come on. Don't be so pessimistic. Smile and be enthusiastic for a change."

"Is that what they teach you in Pom-Poms 101?" Caitie remarked regarding Val's membership in the cheerleading squad.

"Caitie, would you stop with the cheerleading issue already?" Val told her as she headed for class.

"Fine," Caitie said. "Just don't let those evil pom-pom bearers brainwash you."

Val turned around to give Caitie a beaten look that seemed to say, "I give up." Caitie took the rest of her stuff and went on to her next class. Suddenly, someone ran into her and sent herself down to the floor, her books flying everywhere.

"Watch it you dimwit," Caitie yelled to the boy. 

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Those were the first words she ever spoke to me.

"Are you trying to kill me or something? It's the first day of school for crying out loud."

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I didn't even see her in my way. I was too worried about getting caught by Principal Carlson that I didn't watch where I was going. The gentleman that I am, I helped her up and pick up some of her things that were scattered on the floor. She continued to look at me with eyes of fury. Her looks could kill. I was afraid to hand her her books back.

"Can I have my books back now?" she told him irritably.

"Are you sure you won't kill me?" Jamie asked her.

"I don't have time for that now but that could be arranged," Caitie said playfully as she took her books out if his hands.

"Death threat on my first day," Jamie said. "Ooh, I'm so scared."

"You should be," Caitie told him.

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I knew I was already running late, but for some inexplicable reason I was hesitant to leave.

"So, what was the rush about?" Caitie asked him.

"Just running away from Carlson," the boy told her.

"In trouble with the principal already?" Caitie said. "I'm impressed."

"I try my best," the boy said in reply.

"What did you do?" Caitie asked him fascinated.

"Let's just say that the entire gym class heard a little bit too much from the principal," the boy told him with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Rigging the PA system I see?" Caitie said before making a sarcastic comment. "How creatively old school."

"I'll take that as a compliment thank you very much," he told her. "Do you mind if I ask who my assailant is?"

"Caitie Roth," she told him. "And who might you be, my miserable prey?"

"Jamie Waite," he politely told her. "At your service, my humble predator."

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The moment I heard his name, a weird feeling overcame me that even I don't understand.

I know it was the first time we met but it feels like…

We've known each other before…

Like somehow we already knew.

"Have we met before?" Caitie asked him curiously.

"It's funny you asked that," Jamie told her. "I was thinking of the same thing."

"Weird," she said. "Well, did we see each other before? Talked before? You just seem so familiar to me like we've met before or something."

"I don't remember meeting you before," Jamie said. "You seem so familiar too. I don't know why but I feel like I've met you before."

"This is getting way too Twilight Zone here," Caitie commented.

"Yea, I agree," Jamie said with a laugh. "Maybe it's some predator/prey psychic-link that we have."

"Well, I got to head to class," Caitie told him. 

"I'll see you around, Caitie," Jamie called out.

"Yea, you too Jamie," Caitie called back and hurried to class.

When she finally arrived she went in quietly into the room as to not disturb the class, only to discover that she was the first one there.

"Good morning," the teacher said. "You're the first one here. Like they say, the early bird gets the worm. You may choose any seat you like."

"I prefer milk and cereal in the morning," Caitie said under her breath.

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It was a weird encounter…

It really was…

And the thing about it though was that the bell didn't ring. I could have sworn we talked for more than five minutes…

It was as if time froze for us.

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That's it for now. I'm sorry it took me a while to continue. I was too busy with schoolwork and anything school related. The next POV will be about Tyler and Val, and then with Hank. I will continue this however later on. I'll be back! Don't forget to review! ~ Scarlet182

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	3. Point of View: Val and Tyler

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' This is the third of the upcoming "Point of View" chapters. 

Note: Val's thought are italicized in blue; Tyler's are in black.

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Initial Attraction

Point of View: Val and Tyler - Chapter 3

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School just started, and it was another regular Monday. The only thing different was that I was in high school. I couldn't believe it. I loved school. The final cut for cheerleading was being done after school that day. I was a nervous wreck. I hoped that I would get in the squad. I had been practicing my routine over the summer. Caitie kept telling me that it was all a joke. She told me that I was way too smart and intellectual to actually pick up some pom-poms and cheer. I didn't think she'd let me off on the subject that easily. I thought she'd criticize me about it until the day I would decide to quit. 

"I'm so nervous about this," Val stated as she and Caitie went into the cafeteria. "Do you think I'll make it? Everyone else is really good."

"Val, calm down," Caitie told her. "What is the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I want this really bad," Val told her friend. "I've been waiting for this moment all summer."

"This is such a joke," Caitie commented. "Are you really going through this?"

"Why not?" Val told her.

"Val, you're a nice girl," Caitie began to say. "And I love you, but this cheerleading obsession has got to stop. You're way too smart for this. You're not the type of person to pick up some pom-poms, wear those skimpy outfits, and jump and cheer for a bunch of jocks and jockettes."

"Caitie, I want to do this," Val exasperatingly told her friend. "This is as important to me as getting an A in…algebra class. And I need you to support me on this."

"Is this what you really want to do?" Caitie asked her.

"Yes," Val replied.

"Then go for it," Caitie said. "Just promise me one thing."

"Anything," Val said. "Whatever you want."

"As I said before, don't let them brainwash you," Caitie said playfully.

"OK, I won't," Val said.

"I know you won't," Caitie said with a smile and went through her lunch.

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But Caitie is Caitie, and that's why I like her. We are total opposites, but we still managed to overlook our differences and make a lasting friendship. She's the one I know I could truly trust and the one who knows me best. I'm just glad we're still friends after all these years.

I was heading to my second to the last class - - - Biology. Too bad it was on the other side of the building. I figured I'd get there faster if I stopped complaining so I headed there right away. I knew I was almost late, but something on my right caught my gaze. I knew it would cost me, but sometimes doing the right thing isn't always the easy one.

I neared Spanish class when I accidentally bumped into this girl who came out of no where. My books were flying everywhere, and I felt myself hit the floor. I looked up to see who it was. I'm pretty sure it was Heather Stillmore. It was the first time I saw her. She looked at me and acted as if I didn't even matter. She even kicked one of my books out of her way and scoffed as she left. Everyone around me was laughing. Well, except maybe one.

"Excuse you!" Heather said and looked down at Val as if she was some insignificant thing.

"I'm so sorry," Val said as she tried to stand up.

"You should be," Heather replied as she looked down at one of her books. "How pathetic! EMS Booklet? What a geek!"

Val could hear everyone around her laugh. She tried to control herself and not let her humiliation go farther by crying in front of everyone. Heather kicked one of Val's books out of the way as she continued on her walk. Val could hear her snickering from a far. Val began to pick up her books when some tall figure shadowed over her.

"Here you go," he said as he handed her the book that Heather kicked.

"Thanks," she said to him.

The boy continued to pick some of her stuff up.

"I'm sorry about Heather," he said under his breath as he gave her another one of her books. 

"Is she a friend of yours?" Val asked.

"No way!" Tyler said with a laugh. "I'd rather befriend Satan than her. Heather's just another one of those cheerleaders who think they're better than everyone else."

"Yea," Val said as a tear started to roll down her cheeks.

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I felt so bad for her. I knew Heather was a witch. For some strange reason, I got the urge to reach out and wipe the tear off that fell from her eye. She had pretty blue eyes. Sort of like the ocean.

"You shouldn't," he said as he reached out wiped the tear off her face. "She's not worth it. Trust me."

Val felt an electricity go through her at his slight touch. She distracted herself by gathering the rest of her belongings.

"And I'm sorry in behalf of everyone," Tyler said silently as he gave her the last book. "People don't seem to have any morals this time around. They laugh at one person's expense, but when they get hurt they expect sympathy. No one here even took the time to help you out and pick your stuff up for you."

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I don't know why, but at that moment I probably fell in love with him. I didn't even know his name. I don't think he even heard what he was saying.

"I guess you're the exception," Val remarked, as she looked him straight in the eye.

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I don't know how long it was, but it seemed like forever.

I felt that if I stared into his eyes for too long, I would drown. Actually, I thought I did. It felt like I've known him…

"I guess I am," Tyler said in reply as he smiled at her. "Valerie Lanier, right?"

"How did you…?" Val began to say. "Oh, you saw my name on the book. You can call me Val though."

"Nice name," he complimented. "You're an EMT?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to be one when I'm older," Val told him with confidence.

"How do you know you're going to get in?" Tyler challenged her.

"Because I am going to get in," Val said. "How about you?"

"I'm going to try out to be an EMT," he told her. "Is that what you wanted to ask?"

"I was asking for your name, but I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one interested in this EMS thing," Val said. "So, what's your name?"

"Tyler," he told her.

"Do you have a last name?" she inquired lightheartedly.

"Oh, um, Connell," Tyler said. "Yea. It's definitely Connell."

"Are you sure?" she asked playfully.

"Positive," he said with a smile.

Val smiled back at him as she straightened up.

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It was her smile. I don't know anything about love at first sight. In this case, I felt that it was beyond that. I felt like I've known her…

Forever.

Forever.

"I guess I better be going," Tyler said as he started on his way.

"Tyler!" she called out.

Tyler stopped and turned his head around.

"Thanks," she said. "And by the way…I'm a cheerleader."

"I guess you're the exception," Tyler smiled at her as he proceeded to his class.

"I guess I am," she said softly as she watched him leave and went into her classroom.

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I hurried to my biology class. I knew I would get detention for being late. I figured I'd just use the old excuse, "I'm a freshman and I was lost." But I had no regrets whatsoever for what I happened. I came into class and sat down. And for a strange mysterious reason, no one was in class yet. I thought I was going insane. I was certain the bell would have rang at least when I got into the classroom. The teacher was just behind me. Somehow time managed a way to let me meet her…

A special place in time for both of us.

"You're awfully early today," said the teacher. "The warning bell hasn't even rang yet. What's your name?"

"Tyler Connell," he said. "Are you sure the bell didn't ring yet?"

"I'm absolutely sure," the teacher replied. "Why?"

"Nothing," Tyler said as his thoughts tried to make sense of the unfathomable.

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It was a bizarre encounter…

A special moment…

How come it felt like we knew each other…?

Before we even met.

* * *

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That's it for now. I'm sorry it took me a while. School has been keeping my hands full, which makes typing and writing much harder J Did any you guys see the connection between the last two stories? You should have. And one more thing, I want to know if anyone saw anything notable and worth mentioning in the story. It wasn't intentional but I thought it was kind of cool. I'll tell you what it is on the next chapter. Don't forget to review! I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182


	4. Point of View: Hank

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.'

Well, no one was able to catch the "notable" lines, but I was actually amused that some of you guessed on the part where 'Heather's a witch' and 'I'd rather befriend Satan than her.' Anyway, the part that I thoughts was interesting was in the last four lines:

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It was a bizarre encounter…

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A special moment…

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How come it felt like we knew each other…?

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Before we even met.

If you look closely, the first letters of the lines form IAHB. OK, I just thought that was kind of cool. Now that that's over with, continue with the story J

Note: Hank's thoughts are italicized.

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Initial Attraction

Point of View: Hank - Chapter 4

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School was the same as it always was. Boring. Boring. Boring. And it had only been three months. The only thing fun about high school that time was football. It was because of that sport that Tyler and I became enemies, before we were friends. 

"So Tyler, do you think you'll be the captain this year?" a boy asked.

"Who knows, CJ?" Tyler said lightly, although he wished he were. "Maybe."

"Maybe not," Hank commented from behind.

"Excuse me?" Tyler said.

"Well, we all know you're not captain material," Hank said, not even thinking before speaking.

"And I suppose you are?" Tyler countered. 

"I see you're catching on," Hank said with a small laugh.

"Well just see about that," Tyler said before leaving the locker room and heading to the field.

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We were stupid back then, blinded by our egos. Little did we know, we were going to be life-long friends…

"Gather around everyone," said the coach said. "I'm going to announce this year's JV football captain. And that person is…no…we actually have two. Well, this year's co-captains are Tyler Connell and Hank Beecham."

Everyone cheered for them, but Tyler and Hank were staring at each other, eyes burning with fury. 

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We've been best friends ever since. Well, we were at each other's throats first, but you kind of get the hang of it. It gets stale after a while. In ways, we were pretty much alike. We were considered jocks. Overachievers. We didn't look that bad. Good if I may say so myself. We were honor students. Some could even call us "gods" during those days. We were at the top of our game.

Anyway, my life continued to be dull…that was until I met her. I guess I owed it all to Tyler.

"Hank!" Tyler called out. "Hank!"

"Yes Tyler," Hank said grimly.

"I need your help," Tyler finally said.

"Another one?" Hank sighed exasperatingly. "OK, what is it?"

"My childhood best friend just moved around here," Tyler began. "I need someone to show her around school Monday morning."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Long story," Tyler told him.

"I'm listening."

"Well, I'm coming hope late Sunday night and it would really help if I get some sleep," Tyler told Hank.

"Is that you're only reason, because I'm not convinced."

"Please Hank. It's only for a while. She really needs someone to show her around. And I could only trust you to do that if it's not me."

"Well, since you put it that way, what time should I meet her and where?"

"I told her to meet by our lockers around 7:00. She already has the locker number and so forth."

"Are you coming to school though?"

"Of course. I'll meet you around there at exactly 7:25 to see how it went."

"Don't be late."

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"Of course you do. I'll think of something later. Wait. How am I supposed to know who she is?

"Her name's Hannah."

"Well, that's good but how am I supposed to recognize her?"

"You would know when you see her."

Suddenly, some one called out from a far.

"Connell! Beecham! Get your sissy little selves back here!" yelled the coach. "This is football, not a chitchat session! Give me 20 pushups and 5 laps around the track! Go!"

"YOU definitely owe me one," Hank said as he and Tyler began their little punishment.

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I never really wanted to do that favor, but if it meant helping out my best friend then I was willing to do it. Besides, it was for a good cause. Anyway, as I told Tyler, I came to school early that Monday morning. As I was told, I was supposed to meet her at the locker. As I got there, I noticed that I forgot something. Not my backpack. Not my books. Not her name. I forgot to get from Tyler a clear description of what she looked like. 

"Great!" Hank said to himself frustratingly as he looked at his watch. "It's already 7:00 and she'll be here any minute."

Hank continued to talk to himself, echoes bouncing through the still empty halls, as he proceeded to put his books into his locker. 

"Excuse me," a person spoke from behind Hank and tapped his shoulder.

Surprised, Hank jumped and turned towards his back, causing him to drop his books.

"I'm so sorry," the girl apologized and picked his books up for him. "Here."

Hank just stood there, his back to his locker.

__

I don't know what happened, but somehow her eyes just mesmerized me. I mentally told myself to glance away from her gaze, but my eyes were completely captivated by hers. All of a sudden, the moment vanished

"Are you all right?" the girl asked him.

"Uh huh…yea," Hank replied.

"As I was saying, here are your books," the girl said as she handed him his belongings.

"Oh…those books…I mean, thanks for drop…picking them…floor," Hank stuttered as he absent-mindedly took the books away from her, only to succeed in dropping them again.

"I'll get the books," Hank said, still looking at her face.

Hank finally managed to get a hold of the books, and put them in his locker. He shut it close and faced her again.

__

At that instant, I for some reason knew that this was the girl I was waiting for.

"You must be Hannah," Hank said after he finally gained his composure.

"How did you know?" she asked. "Have we met before?"

__

I just knew when I saw her, like we've met a long while back.

"Tyler told me," Hank said.

"You know TC?" she asked.

"He's my best friend."

"Where is he?"

"He's coming later."

"Why didn't he call me? He was supposed to show me around the school."

"Actually, he asked me to do him a favor and be kind enough to show you around instead."

"Really? That's great then. At least I didn't waste my time coming here early.

__

Me too.

"I'm Hank Beecham," he said as he extended his hand to her.

"Hannah Blair," she said as she shook his hands.

Hank quickly shook her hand and took his away, making Hannah give him a curious look.

__

My hands were shaking like crazy. I didn't know what else to do at that moment.

Hank put his hands in his pocket.

"Shall we?"

Hank led the way and he basically toured her around the school.

__

Those minutes of just walking and talking to her seemed like heaven. And before I was hesitant to even do this in the first place. 

Hank and Hannah finally got back to where they started.

"I had fun," she said as she smiled at him

__

That was her best smile as of yet. Luckily, I had the lockers once again to support me as my legs started to feel like jello.

"Same here," Hank finally said.

"Thanks for the tour."

"Anytime."

"I have to find my locker now. Tell TC I said 'hi'."

"I will. I'll see you around…" Hank said rather unsure.

"Definitely," Hannah said as she gave Hank another smile and disappeared at the corner.

"Thank you, Tyler," Hank said silently as he slowly fell to the floor, his back still against the locker.

__

I was on cloud nine. I guess Tyler doesn't owe me one anymore. I wished the moment would never end. But as I learned that day, time flies…or does it?

"Tyler should be here any minute…" Hank thought out loud as he glanced at his watch.

__

It was the weirdest scariest thing that has ever happened to me in my life.

"7:00?" Hank asked himself. "This watch must be broken."

__

But it was working fine. The second hand was continuously moving.

Hank looked at the clock that was hanged over one of the classroom doors.

__

7:00.

Hank looked inside the classrooms in the near hallway for a clock.

__

7:00. 7:00. 7:00.

"What is going on here?" Hank said out loud as he headed back to his locker, fear creeping out his spine.

Suddenly, reality sank in as Hank finally stopped to look around. The halls were empty and no one was in sight.

"Where did everyone go?" Hank stated. 

Then he looked at his watched again and the time said 7:01. Students don't usually come around 7:15.

"What is this? The X-Files?" Hank cried.

__

I thought I was going insane.

"What about the time she and I walked around the school and talked?" Hank said out loud in order to calm himself.

"Hannah…is she experiencing what I'm experiencing right now?"

Hank just sat on the floor near his locker. As time passed by, Hank continued to ponder about what happened.

__

And the more I thought of it, the more I became convinced that she wasn't real at all. She was just an illusion. It was all a dream…

"Hank?" Tyler said when he finally arrived. "What are you doing down there?"

"I was waiting for you," Hank said with a preoccupied look.

"Well, thanks for helping me out," Tyler said. "I ran into her just a minute ago."

Tyler's information caught Hank's attention.

"You mean she's real?"

"What?" Tyler asked with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Just…you're welcome."

"All right."

"And you owe me nothing."

"If you say so," Tyler said. "Hank, are you sure you're OK?"

"Couldn't be better."

"Good, I'll see you later," Tyler stated before leaving him.

__

…but it wasn't a dream. It was real. It happened. I kept asking myself if she went through what I did. After all this time, I still don't know what all that was about. All I know was that the moment we spent with each other that day was something out of the ordinary. Time played a little trick on us. I wish I knew the answer.

* * *

__

I have to cut it off here. I hope you liked it. The next part will most likely occur at the near future, if not the present time. Thanks for all of those who reviewed J And don't forget to review this one. I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182

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	5. Lingering Eyes

__

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.'

Note: This chapter is in the present-future time (finally!!!)

****

Initial Attraction

Lingering eyes - Chapter 5

__

Junior year in high school…well, except for Jamie.

A tired and sleepy Jamie came groggily through the door at the EMS station. 

"Jamie!" Hank called out. "You're late. Again."

"Come on, Hank," Jamie complained. "I had the late shift last night. I got home at 12:00."

"Give it a rest, Hank," Tyler told him. "He was only late by 2 minutes."

"Tyler, a person's life…"

"…Could be in danger in any minute of the day," finished a female voice that came from the door. "Yea, you said that for like the millionth time."

Val sat down and on the couch and grabbed a newspaper.

"Fine," Hank said defeated. "But next time, try to be more punctual, Jamie."

"At your will, Master Beecham," Jamie mockingly remarked as he faked a small bow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to finish."

"And more to come," added Brooke as she came with a large pile if papers. "Here you go."

Whines and groans followed Brooke's arrival. 

"I know how happy you all are to see me," she said.

Brooke then proceeded to give each of the guys an even amount of paperwork.

"I expect you to finish this no later than Tuesday of next week."

"Yes, your Majesty of Paperwork," Jamie bowed again as he retreated to the nearest table.

The four went ahead and tackled the task that they were given. The sooner it's over with, the better. Val stayed on the couch, Jamie on the other side, while Tyler and Hank were on he counter. Hank was almost through a quarter of the pile. Tyler however, was only on the second one. Hank faked a cough to grab Tyler's attention.

"Tyler, get to work," Hank ordered him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he grabbed another pen, before returning it for he already had one in his hand.

"What's wrong with you today?" 

"Nothing. It's just that I can't concentrate at this time of the day."

"Well, from the looks of it, you pretty much had full concentration as you had your lingering eyes over there," Hank pointed towards Val.

Tyler took a quick glance at Val, before returning to his work.

"I wasn't looking at her," Tyler protested.

"Right."

"I was trying to read the newspaper she was reading."

"You might have had better luck with the copy right in front of you."

Tyler knew that he couldn't get away with this, so he picked up his stuff and moved over to the next room, causing a grin on Hank's face.

* * *

Later that night, Hank was left for the late night shift. The others already left. Tyler drove his car. Val drove hers. And Jamie was on his motorcycle. Hank turned on the TV to occupy himself when someone came knocking on the door. Hank looked up, and saw a rather familiar face, which brought a smile to his lips. He let her in.

"Hannah, what are you doing here?"

"Is Tyler still here?"

"No, you just missed him. Why?"

"It's nothing important. I wanted to interview him for the school paper."

"What about?"

"Just about the squad. The EMT business. Managing life between school and saving lives."

"Oh," Hank said slightly disappointed. "I'm sure you're article will be great. I mean, Tyler lives a pretty amazing life."

"I know," Hannah said. "He's a great guy. Well, I'll see you later."

"Yea," Hank stood up as he walked her to the door.

Hank couldn't help but feel dejected. As far as he's concerned, he and Tyler practically live the same lives. The hardest part of all was that Hannah never thought of him. I guess what hurt more was that he had a little crush on her. Not that anyone knew. They became good friends throughout the years they have known each other. 

"Hank, is there something wrong? You seem a little down."

"I'm fine," he smiled as to disguise his true emotions.

"Um, actually, could I stay for a little bit longer?"

"If you want, I guess you could. Why?"

"Well, I'd like to interview you Hank Beecham."

"I thought Tyler…"

"He's not here, is he?"

"No."

"Then I'm interviewing you then. You two seem to live the same life."

"Well, since you asked…"

"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."

"All right. Where should we start?"

"Actually, we should do this some other time. I'm running late for home."

"OK. No problem."

"This is really embarrassing, but can you give me a ride? I was expecting Tyler to be here so I just asked my friend to drop me over here."

"My shift ends in 15 minutes. Is that OK?"

"Great!"

After fifteen minutes, Hank closed up and got ready to take her home. As he came back to the room, he stopped for a moment and looked at her. _'She looks so peaceful.'_ Hannah was lying down on the couch. Hank just continued to stare at her, until Hannah began to wake up.

"Hank, are you done now? How long have you been there?"

"I just finished."

"Well, come on, let's go."

Hank finally arrived at Hannah's house.

"Thanks for the ride," said Hannah.

"Anytime."

"Are we still on?"

"For what?"

"The interview."

"How could I forget? Let's discuss it later at school."

"Fine by me. I'll see you later, Hank. Good night."

"Good night," Hank said as he drove for home.

* * *

Monday came by quickly. As early as school started, it ended early all the same. Jamie couldn't have been more thankful. As he came to his locker, he searched for his best friend. To his dismay, he was unsuccessful. All he saw was his best friend's other best friend.

"Val!" Jamie called out.

"Hey Jamie! What's up?"

"Do you know where Caitie is?"

"I didn't see her come out of her room. She must have left early."

"Do you have any idea where?"

"No, but the question is, 'Do you have any idea where she is?'"

"Is that a trick question?"

"Never answer a question with a question."

"Well, thanks for your help anyway."

"No problem. And if you do find Caitie, tell her to call me, OK?"

"Sure."

Jamie pondered on Caitie's whereabouts. _'Where could she be?'_ All of a sudden, a place came to mind and Jamie knew exactly where to find her. Jamie slung his book bag on his shoulder and headed outside the field. On his way, he saw Val again in her cheerleading practice outfit. Jamie continued to cross the field towards the bleachers. When he got there, he went around to get under it. As he had suspected, Caitie was sitting alone on the ground with a pen and a notebook on her hands.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" asked Jamie.

"Just freeing my mind and soul through this single thing we call a 'pen'."

"You're writing poetry, I see."

"Yea, now be quiet so I can finish these last lines."

Jamie sat across her as he watched her scribbling on the page. Just the movements of her hand mesmerized him. He continued to stare at her. The silence only grew louder.

"Jamie, why did you get held back a grade?"

Jamie was caught by surprise on Caitie's question.

"I had too many detentions, and got in trouble a lot."

"That's it?"

"I was slacking off anyway. I learned my lesson. Even though you might not think so, this whole EMT thing is really helping me a lot."

"You're not considering staying there, are you?"

"Actually, I am."

"That's good. Not that you're staying with the 'super squad', but that you're willing to take your life in your hands and make things better for you."

"Thanks," Jamie said after he slightly laughed. "Are you done yet?"

"No. I just need two more lines."

"What's it about? Maybe I could help."

"The main point is about being different. I've written a lot, but I don't know how to end it. The ending lines so far are 'You discriminate at my individuality…You mock my every move'."

"I see," Jamie said as he paused to think.

There was a long silence, before Caitie decided to break it.

"Jamie, are you thinking or are you just sleeping with your eyes open?"

"I got it!"

"What?"

"The ending to your poem."

"Let's hear it."

"You laugh at me because I'm different…I laugh at you because you're all the same."

Caitie was now the one who paused for a moment.

"Jamie, that was good," she said as she scribbled down the lines. "Really good."

"Really? I thought it was rather short and stupid."

"It was short, brief and right to the point, but it was definitely not stupid. I guess the 'super squad' must have rubbed off on you."

"Or maybe it was you who rubbed off on me," Jamie added. "You know, with all your poetry business."

"Maybe," Caitie said slowly as she closed her book and stood up. "What do you want to do now?"

"How about pizza?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Let's go!"

* * *

__

That's it for this chapter. I'll try to post the following chapters as soon as I can. I might not be able to post until next weekend due to the bundles of work my teachers had assigned. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review. I'll be back! J ~ Scarlet182

**** __ __


	6. Look at her - Jamie and Caitie

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' "Crazy for this Girl" is by Evan & Jaron. 

Note: I know that some authors have used the song before, but it just fits for this chapter. I'm sorry if I upset anybody about this. The noise from the radio is in blue. The flashback is in green.

****

Initial Attraction

Look at her - Jamie and Caitie - Chapter 6

It was only the beginning of the week and Jamie just got out of detention after Carlson accused him of something he didn't do. As he was wandering around the hallway, he heard someone call his name.

"Jamie!" a voice called.

Instantly, Jamie turned around and saw Caitie running to get to him.

"What's the matter?" he asked as they continued to walk.

"Nothing. I just wanted to catch up with you. That's all. Why are you still here at this time?"

"Detention."

"Why?"

"Carlson thought I was the one who set put a whoopie cushion under his chair."

"Why would he think that? And how could you do that, which I know you didn't?"

"Well, he stayed with our class for a while because Mr. Ulrich is sick. Carlson came out the door to talk to a kid who was running in the hallway. He was out there for like fifteen minutes. He came back in eventually. I was actually asleep when I hart this loud farting noise come out of nowhere. The next thing I know, Carlson was on my case."

"We really need to do something about him?"

"Why bother? It's not like he'll listen."

"We could try," Caitie said hopefully.

Jamie looked down on her.

"Yea, we could."

They reached the parking lot where Caitie headed for her car. The sky was rather dark. Jamie went on the other side and set off on a long walk to home. Caitie started her car, when she remembered that Jamie had to walk. She quickly put it to start and went after him. She passed a bunch of cars before she slowed down as she spotted him. 

"Where's your toy?" she asked as she rolled the window down.

"I still have it in the shop," Jamie said before turning quiet.

Caitie gave him a sympathetic look. _'Why did I say that? I shouldn't have said that. Now I made him think about it.'_ She decided to change the subject.

"Do you want a ride?"

"That's all right. My house is only a mile or so from here."

All of a sudden, it began to rain.

"Do you want a ride **now**?" Caitie smiled at him.

Jamie returned her smile, and opened the door to the passenger seat.

* * *

When they arrived, Jamie asked her if she wanted to come in for a while. 

"I have some time," she replied as she parked her car on the side of the road.

Jamie opened the door and let Caitie in first.

"This feels good," Caitie said regarding the warmth of the house. "It's so cold out there."

Jamie nodded before calling out his mother's name.

"Mom! I'm home! My friend, Caitie, is here."

Isabelle Waite came down from the stairs and Jamie gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll just change, but I'll be right back," Jamie said before heading to his room.

Mrs. Waite led Caitie to a seat.

"You must be the friend Jamie keeps talking about," Mrs. Waite said.

"He talks about me?"

"Whenever he comes home, I usually ask him about school. I'm telling you, there isn't a single one of his stories where you're not included."

Caitie blushed a little bit.

"So, how's Danielle?" Caitie asked.

"My daughter is still hanging on. You know, after what happened, she was in a pretty bad shape. How's Jamie taking it?"

"He's doing pretty well. All of his friends are there for him."

"Thank you. He doesn't talk to his father or me about it as much. And Peter, whom he talks to often, is in college."

"Jamie's a great guy. He'll get through this."

"I know. That's my James Timothy."

" Timothy?"

"That's his middle name. He didn't tell you that?"

"No, but thanks for telling me," Caitie said with a laugh. "I'll make sure to mention that to him."

"I'm warning you, he doesn't like to be called that. He hated me for that ever since he was a kid. I always do it to tease him."

"Really?"

"I remember that day when Jamie was around eight years old. We were at a playroom. He was on this ride simulator. Do you know what that is?"

"I think I've had my share of them."

"Well, he was on this car for three whole hours and he wouldn't budge. I'm telling you, that's one stubborn kid."

"He still is."

Jamie's mom laughed.

"He said the cutest little things. He was talking about how he loved cars. And when I asked him that I thought he loved motorcycles, he said, 'Can't I love both at the same time.'" 

"Aww, that's so cute."

"The thing that he said that I'll always remember was when he told me that he's going to marry a car because I was telling him how he can't. His exact words were, "'Well, I'm going to marry a car. C-a-r. Car. And I'm going to have a motorcycle as well. And you can't stop me.'"

"C-a-r, huh?"

"Yea, why?"

"I just think it's funny. Those are actually my initials. Creepy, isn't it?"

"What's your full name?"

"Caitlin Ava Roth."

"What a big coincidence!" she said with a small laugh. "And you two are such good friends and all."

"Yea. I wish I had met the little James Timothy Waite."

At the call of his full name, Jamie quickly rushed to the two ladies.

"Mom, did you tell her?"

"I'm sorry, honey, but someone has to know."

"Yes, James Timothy," Caitie teased.

Jamie gave her a fake evil look. Caitie laughed as she stood up.

"It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Waite."

"Likewise," Isabelle smiled.

"Jamie, I have to get going. I have to get something for my mom."

"Thanks for the ride."

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow."

Jamie walked Caitie to the door. After she left, Jamie's mother came up to him.

"Jamie, did you know that Caitie's initials spell 'car'?"

"No, but thanks for reminding me I guess," Jamie said with a confused look.

Jamie went straight to his room and plopped on his bed. The silence was getting to him, so he turned on the radio. A slow, yet more upbeat than most, played on the radio.

"Oh, why do they play this stuff? Who listens to these?"

As Jamie was about to change the station, the song ended and another came on, which was being introduced by the DJ.

****

"And now, here's song dedicated to Katelyn from Chris. It's "Crazy for this Girl" by Evan and Jaron."

The title of the song made him stop from doing what he intended. Instead, Jamie raised the volume a little higher and put his head on the pillow as he listened to the song.

__

She rolls the window down

And she talks over the sound

'What the heck? That happened this afternoon!

Of the cars that pass us by

And I don't know why

"But she's changed my life…" Jamie said in sync with the song.

__

Would you look at her

She looks at me 

She's got me thinking about her constantly 

But she don't know how I feel 

And as she carries on without a doubt 

I wonder if she's figured out 

I'm crazy for this girl

She was the one to hold me 

The night 

The sky fell down 

And what was I thinking when 

The world didn't end 

Why didn't I know what I know now

As the song continued to play, Jamie slipped into his thoughts. _'What's up with this song? It's practically telling my life story.'_ Jamie's thoughts brought him back to the incident that happened the week before…

"Come on, Jamie. Just one ride. Please?" Danielle asked.

"Oh, fine. But just one. OK, come here."

Jamie picked her off the ground and settled her behind him. He put a helmet on her head.

"Hold on tight," Jamie said.

"OK."

With that, Jamie started his motorcycle. He drove around the block, sending laughters of joy from his ten-year-old sister. Jamie couldn't help but smile. He turned his head towards her for what seemed like a second. He smiled down at her. When Jamie directed his gaze back to the road, a small truck was heading towards his way. At an impulse, Jamie swerved his vehicle out of the way. His bike went out of control, and caused himself and his sister to be thrown off it. The sound of the ambulance caused Jamie to wake up. The first person he saw was Hank.

"Jamie, are you alright?"

"Yea, I'm fine."

"Good thing you had a helmet."

"Where's Danielle? Where's my little sister?"

"Jamie, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down! I can't calm down. Now where is my sister?"

"They took her to the hospital. She was unconscious and her breathing became weak."

"Oh no," Jamie said as he dug his head into his hands. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have taken her for a ride. It was dangerous, and I knew it."

"At least you had a helmet on her. If not, she would have been in a more serious condition."

Later that night, Jamie was sitting alone in the waiting room. From the way his eyes were red, it was obvious that he was crying. Suddenly, Jamie felt a hand on his shoulders. He looked up, expecting his mother, but it was Caitie. Caitie gave him a weak smile and sat beside him.

"How are you holding up?"

"Not pretty good," he tried to laugh, but he couldn't.

Caitie put an arm around him as Jamie continued to sob.

"Why her? Why not me? She's still ten for crying out loud. This is all my fault."

"Jamie, blaming yourself is not going to help your sister."

"And blaming others will?" he said sarcastically.

"No. No one is to blame. Things happen Jamie. Good or bad. You just have to accept that."

"I can't, Caitie," he said helplessly as Caitie hugged him. "I just can't."

Caitie comforted her friend. She just remained in his embrace, patting his back once in a while.

"Don't give up, Jamie."

As Jamie came back to reality, then and only then did the words his mom spoke sink in.

* * *

__

That's the end for now. I will eventually come back to this story. It wasn't much, but I hope you liked it anyway. Don't forget to review J I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182


	7. Revelation - Tyler and Val

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney (if they decide to keep it), and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' 

Note: Flashbacks are written in green.

****

Initial Attraction

Revelation - Tyler and Val - Chapter 7

It was a busy day in the station. Loads of paperwork and tons of calls were at hand. For Val, it didn't help much when only her and Tyler were on duty. Well, they had another person to fill in Jamie's spot, but it was just not the same. Not to mention that Hank was off duty.

"Val!" cried Brooke. "Have you seen a stack of folders with a note on them?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"I was just going through them a few minutes ago. Alex had an important note on there."

"I'm sorry but I can't help you with that."

"Thanks anyway," she said before leaving.

"Tyler!" she cried. "Can I get some help over here?"

"I'm coming!" he said while trying to balance a box in his left arms and a stack of papers on his right.

"Tyler! Watch out!"

But her call of warning was too late. Tyler already tripped over another box that in front of him. Wads of paper flew in the air as the box made a big thud on the floor. As Tyler got up, he could see a bunch of paper hovering downwards.

"Are you OK?" asked Val in a concerned tone as she tried to stifle a giggle.

Tyler looked up with a not-so-amused smile on his face.

"I'm fine! Couldn't be better!"

"Come on! It's not that bad. At least we don't have any calls at this time."

With a cruel twist of fate, the alarm buzzer turned on.

"You were saying?" he said as he tried to get up.

"Let's go!" she said.

* * *

To their consolation, the call was only for a little girl. They didn't wait for the third person to come, so only the two of them took off.

"I'm Tyler. This is Val. And we're teen emergency medical technicians."

"What's the problem?" asked Val.

"She was playing on the monkey bars, but the next thing I knew she was on the ground."

"Are there any signs of broken bones?" asked Val.

"I wouldn't know."

As Tyler and Val approached the girl, she was crying in pain. In their best efforts, they treated her as nicely and calmly as possible. They found out that she didn't fracture any arms, limbs, or neck, but she had a sprained ankle. After they took care of the situation, they two automatically took off.

"That wasn't that bad," said Val.

"Thank goodness. We better get back to the station. There are lots of paper work to do."

* * *

Later that night, Tyler had to stay for a late night shift. He was going on a camping trip the next day with William, his mother, and the Blairs. _'Just like old times.'_ As he weaved his way through the messy floor of boxes and papers, he tripped once again.

"That turned out well," he said to himself. "I better do something about this before I go nuts."

With that, Tyler decided to clean up the room. It wasn't an easy task, but he figured that he'd do anything to kill time and keep him sane. Within a couple of hours, the room was as clean as the way it had been on normal days. Tyler had a content look on his face.

"Very nicely done, Connell," he congratulated himself. 

As Tyler headed for the couch to entertain him with late night show reruns, he came across a small stack of folders. On top was note saying: 

__

Brooke,

I need you to put this back in the file cabinet. These are very important documents. I'm counting on you. I'll see you later tomorrow morning.

Alex

Curious, Tyler looked through the label in the folders. He discovered that they were personal information of Hank, Val, Jamie, and himself. Tyler decided to put them back when a thought came across his mind.

"This is must be the folders Brooke was looking for," he said to himself. "I better put this back in the cabinet."

While Tyler carried the stack to the cabinet, three of the folders slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor.

"Great! Now I'll have to figure out whose files are who. I hope one of these is mine."

To his luck one of the folders was his, along with Val's and Jamie's. Jamie's folder was on top so he carefully picked the right files to put in it.

"James Timothy Waite," he whispered to himself and smiled. "I better not forget to mention that to him."

After he finished with Jamie, he started to work on Val's folder. As he filed through the papers, he saw Val's resume.

"Valerie Anne Lanier," he stated quietly. "I guess that explains why she signs or in this case initials papers with VAL. I thought she was just writing her first name."

Finally finishing on Val's folder, he picked up the rest of the papers and shoved them in his folder.

"Finally," he said as he carried the stack and simply laid them on top of the cabinet with a note. "It's getting late. I better lock up."

Tyler looked around the station just to make sure that everything is perfectly fine. When he was satisfied, he shut down all the lights and headed for home.

* * *

Early the next day, Tyler overslept and was rushing to finish packing for his trip.

"Honey!" called out his mother from downstairs. "Are you almost done?"

"Just about!" he called back.

"You better hurry up!" she said. "The Blairs are here!"

"All right! I'll be down in a minute!"

When he got downstairs, Tyler was greeted by one of his best friends.

"Good morning, Sleepy Head," greeted Hannah. "Finally you're done packing."

"It didn't help that I got home late last night from a late shift. Besides, I'm ready now."

"I missed these trips."

"Same here."

"Are we still going to the same place?"

"Yep. The place that we always went to before."

"Does is bother you that William is coming?"

"Not really, but thanks for asking."

"Come on, kids!" called out William. "We have a long way to go."

Tyler picked up his luggage as Hannah walked beside him.

"After you," Tyler said when they reached the door. "I get the backseat on the right side."

"Not if I get there first," she said as she quickly got in the car.

Tyler tried to chase her but to no avail.

"Some things just never change," said Daphne Connell under her breath from the other vehicle.

* * *

After six hours of driving, with occasional stops, they finally arrived.

"At last! We're here!" cried Hannah in a loud cheery voice.

Tyler was awakened immediately by the sound of her voice.

"You're still loud. Even now."

Hannah stuck her tongue out at him and smiled before she got out of the car.

"This place is still beautiful," she cried.

"Yep," exclaimed Tyler. "It sure is."

Tyler's family and the Blairs started unpacking and setting up tents. There was a total of four. One for Tyler's mom and William, one for Hannah's parents, one for Hannah, and one for Tyler. They did a lot of things. They went fishing and swimming in the nearby lake, hiking in the woods, singing camp songs, telling stories, and so on. All of this happened in a day. Just a couple of hours later, Hannah's mom broke a leg. Mr. Blair decided to go ahead and return home early.

"Do you really have to go?" asked Tyler. "We've only been here for a day. This is crazy."

"Yes," said Hannah. "But my mom has to be sent to the hospital. Besides, I still have some more stuff to do back home."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, Hank and I have this community service thing we had to do for class. I cancelled on him because of the trip, but I guess we can get it over with."

"This is not turning out as I expected."

"I know. I'm sorry. I promise that the next time we come, I'll be staying here for more than 24 hours."

"OK. Send my regards to Hank."

"I will. I'll see you when you get back. And please don't mope around. Have fun."

"I'll try," Tyler said with an assuring smile.

With that, Hannah and his family left. 

"Good thing we brought two cars," Tyler could hear William say. "Tyler? If we're staying here to finish the trip, it's all up to you."

"Do you guys mind? I really don't feel like staying anymore." 

"It's fine," William said. "We completely understand. It's getting late. You better rest for now. We have a long day tomorrow."

"I will. Good night, Will. Good night, Mom!"

"Good night, Tyler," called out his mother and William.

Tyler picked up and some wood and sticks and started to make a bonfire. After Tyler successfully made the fire, he sat and watched at the wood turned ablaze. He looked around, remembering the times he and Hannah spent in the place. As he continued to look around, Tyler noticed something from afar, and it was barely visible if not the small amount of light emitted by the burning flame. Curious, he grabbed a burning wood as a source of light and went over to sit beside the old big tree. He marveled at the faint carved writing on the tree as he let his fingers glide through it. He pondered about any clues that will help him gain any knowledge of this writing. Finally, his thoughts brought him to the last time he and Hannah visited the place together…

"Hannah, do you believe in curses?" Tyler asked his friend. "You know, magic?"

"Not really" Hannah replied.

"Well, I do," Tyler said. "I should think of something that is almost impossible that probably would not happen."

"Like what?" asked Hannah

"What if I make a curse about the girl who I will live happily ever after with?" stated. 

"You watch too many Disney movies," said Hannah. 

"OK, so I should think of something impossible," Tyler began to speak again. "What about the letters of her names? Hmm, what if she has to have three names and the first letter of her three names would be her first name?" 

"That would be weird," said Hannah. 

"Well, it doesn't have to be her first name," added Tyler. "Maybe her nickname or something. Yea, that's it. That would be totally impossible."

As he made up his mind, he picked up a sharp stone and carved something on the tree beside him. It wasn't an easy task, but he managed to do it.

"There," he said as he finished carving it faintly on the tree.

The carvings stated: Me + ???

"You're very weird Tyler," said Hannah.

"Tyler Parker Connell, get here this instant," cried his mom.

"OK, Mom," he called out before picking up his stuff and leaving, with Hannah right behind him.

Tyler snapped back from his thoughts and a revelation was put down in front of him. It wasn't until then that he realized that impossibilities do come true.

* * *

__

I'm sorry for the long delay. I hope you liked it. As you can see, I'm alternating the different characters. This fic is not over yet J Don't forget to review! And for those who did, thanks a bunch! You're actions are greatly appreciated. I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182


	8. Etched - Hank

Ethced - Hank - Ch8 __

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney (if they decide to keep it), and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' 

Note: Flashbacks are written in green. As you might have noticed below, the font is smaller than the usual. I also changed the font in the other chapters just to make them all the same. I got a request from Ivy Leaves to make it smaller, so here you go. If you're reading this Ivy, tell me if it's too small or if it's fine J Thanks. I'm going to New Orleans now for a few days, so I'll post the next chapter when I get back. Now enough of these…continue!

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Initial Attraction

Etched - Hank - Chapter 8

Darkness filled Kingsport as the sun had set. After hours of answering calls and helping people, Hank had never been happy to see his bed as he was now. He changed into his sleeping clothes and watched TV for a while. A couple of hours later the clock showed that it was already ten o'clock, and Hank's body told him that it was time to sleep. A mere five hours had passed when his phone rang. Hank lazily got out of his bed and kicked himself for putting it across the room.

"Who would be calling me at this hour?" Hank mumbled sleepily. "It couldn't be Tyler."

Hank finally got to the phone and turned on the speakerphone button. 

"Why the heck are you calling me at…three o'clock in the morning?" Hank said with an annoyed tone.

"It's nice to talk to you to," a female tone said on the other line.

"Hannah?" Hank said now fully awake. "I thought you were at that camping trip."

"My mom had a little accident so our plans basically changed."

"And Tyler?"

"He's still up there. I don't know if he's staying for the whole week though."

"OK. Let's take a rewind. Why are you calling me at this time?"

"I'm so sorry if I woke up."

"If?"

"All right. I'm sorry for **waking** you up. Is that better?"

"For now. So what is it that you called me for?"

"Are you on duty tomorrow?"

"Not until the evening. Why?"

"You know that community service thing we had to do?"

"Yea," he replied as he got the hint of where this was heading.

"Well I cancelled on you a few days ago, but now that my schedule's free we can do it tomorrow. It's up to you."

"Well…sure…I'd love to."

"Great! I have all the stuff we need. Are you sure you can handle all those kids?"

"I'm not making any promises."

"What harm could they be?"

"They could give you black eyes," said Hank as he remembered Jamie's case.

"What?"

"Never mind. What time are we meeting?"

"Around 10. I already talked to some school officials and they told me that there's a small class held every Sunday in Kingsport Elementary."

"Do they even know that we're coming?"

"I already met with the teacher and I left her a message that we might do it either today or next week. I'll just have to make sure to call Mrs. Pallette later."

"I'm so lucky you're my partner. I would probably be scrambling if I did it alone or with someone else."

"Thank you. Well, you better get some more sleep. Good night."

"Good night," Hank said with a smile on his face before putting the phone down.

Hank went back to bed and set his alarm clock to wake him up on time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hank woke up at the sound of his clock. It was only eight o'clock, so he decided to jog for a while. After several minutes, he returned home and ate his breakfast before taking a shower. By the time he finished, it was already a quarter to ten. Without wasting any second, he drove off to his old school. He arrived there ten minutes later with Hannah already waiting for him.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Hank apologized.

"You still have five minutes to spare," she told him.

"Do you have the stuff?"

"They're all right here," she said as she lifted her book bag.

"Who's the woman in-charge of the class again?"

"Mrs. Pallette. Why? Do you know her?"

"She was my old third grade teacher."

"You still remember her?"

"Of course," he said with a smile and enthusiasm. "Come on. I still memorized the way to her room. It's 357 steps away from here."

"Geek," she said playfully before following his lead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to the classroom, Hank automatically recognized his old teacher.

"Hey Mrs. Pallette!" he greeted.

The teacher turned around and looked at Hank carefully before a smile crept to her face.

"Hank Beecham!" she said before she went over to hug him. "You've grown so much."

"Well, it has been eight years."

"Go ahead," she told him. "The class is all yours. Take your time to write your names on the board to help them remember."

Mrs. Pallette moved aside and watched the two teens do their thing.

"OK guys, I'm Hannah Blair," she introduced herself as she wrote her name on the board.

"And I'm Hank Beecham," he said following Hannah's lead and wrote on the board.

"Today, we're going to talk about what you want to be when you grow up," said Hannah.

Hank couldn't help but give a yawn. When Hannah glanced towards him, he replaced it with a smile. After thirty minutes, Hank and Hannah sent the kids to do some hands-on activities. 

"Hank. You check over the kids on the left side and I'll check over the right."

"Aye, Captain."

Hank looked down at the drawings that the kids made. They were assigned to draw what they wanted to do in the future. Someone wanted to be a fireman. One wanted to be a doctor. One drew Superman, which made Hank laugh a little. A girl wanted to be a movie star, while another wanted to be nurse. When Hank got to a little brunette boy, he had a half-amused yet half-disappointed look on his face. It wasn't what the boy drew that caused this expression. It was what he wrote on the table. On the table was a circle, and in it were the initials HB + HB. 

"You know you're not supposed to write on the table," Hank told the little boy.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mister!" he said in a childish sort of way.

"Then how come I see Hannah's and my initials on your table," Hank told him although he had toyed with the idea not too long ago. "Inside a circle of all things."

"I swear I didn't do it," the little boy cried. "I cross my heart."

Hank couldn't help but find himself be entertained by the little boy.

"Tell me," he began to say. "What's your name?"

"Tobias Jacobs," the boy replied. "But everyone calls me Toby."

"Toby? Are you telling me the truth?"

"I am. And besides, only girls write these stuff, and you must be wrong because I'm not a girl."

The words that the boy spoke were all too familiar for Hank. In fact, the whole scene was all too familiar. For a minute or two, Hank spaced out…

"I believe in curses," Hank said.

"Hank, only girls believe in that stuff," Toby said.

"Well, I'm not a girl, so you must be wrong," Hank told his friend.

Toby became silent.

"So, do you believe in those stuff about who you'll marry?" Toby asked Hank.

"Do you want to know a secret?" Hank asked Toby.

"Of course," he said loud enough for the whole class to hear.

"You better promise not to tell anyone," Hank told him.

"I promise," he said

"I'm going to be married to a girl with the same first and last name as I do," Hank told Toby.

"You're marrying yourself?" Toby asked in shock, and once again with the whole class hearing them.

The room was filled with laughter.

"No, I'm not marrying myself," Hank whispered to Toby. "It's more like the first letter of her first name and the first letter of her last name is the same as I am."

"Cool," Toby said.

"But she has to be different," Hank added.

"How?" Toby asked.

"I don't know," Hank said as he drew a circle, with two H's and B's in them.

Hank was brought back to reality by the incessant voice of an eight-year-old.

"Mister! I swear I didn't do it."

"I know you didn't," Hank said as he glanced at Hannah, who gave him a smile.

"Then who did?"

"I did."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

That's all for now! I hope you liked it! I'll have the next chapter out as soon as possible. I'm sorry for the short delay J Please don't forget to review! And thanks for reading my story at least. I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182


	9. Face to face - Jamie and Caitie

Face to face - Jamie and Caitie - Ch9 __

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' "Crazy for this Girl" is by Evan & Jaron. This is the continuation to "Look at her - Jamie and Caitie" or chapter 6 of the series.

****

Initial Attraction

Face to face - Jamie and Caitie - Chapter 6

Caitie was on her way home from the store. She turned off the radio, which was playing another slow song.

"Who listens to these things?"

Caitie entered her house and saw her brothers and sisters watching TV. Caitie left the medicine her mom told her to get at the counter. After that, she went upstairs. As she got to her room, she couldn't help but notice how disorganized and messy it was. She shared it with her two sisters.

"It didn't bother me before, why now?" she said as to convince herself to leave it as it is.

Caitie sat on her bed, but her mind kept turning her attention to the fact that her room needs cleaning.

"Why now?" she said before getting up and starting to clean the room.

After an hour of cleaning, Caitie looked around and felt like she was in Val's room.

"How can she live like this?"

Caitie began to pick bits and pieces of things from the floor. She put the things she thought were useless in a box and headed for the attic. When she set the box down and started to leave, a small pink box caught her attention. It was labeled 'MY STUFF' in Caitie's child handwriting. With curiosity, she took the box out of the pile and opened it. When she saw what was inside, a smile crept on her lips. Inside was a box covered with a lot of tape. Caitie remembered exactly what the box contained. She shook the box, and was satisfied with the fact that there was no noise that occurred. Caitie brought the box back in her room.

"Now where's that exacto knife…" she said as she searched in the dressers. "Here it is."

Caitie brought the knife back to her bed and began cutting the tape of the box. After ten minutes, she successfully got the tape off of it.

"How long has it been? 8 years?" she said to the box as though it was living.

Caitie carefully lifted the box open and saw a neatly folded blue piece of paper. For some strange reason, she had an odd feeling about reading it.

"Well, there was no rule saying I couldn't open it now, or without Val. It's been 8 years after all."

With that, Caitie unfolded the paper and began to read the list of her supposedly "prince charming" as Val put had called him…

Caitie

    1. nice, but not a goody-goody

"Nice pick, Caitie," she whispered to herself.

    2. taller than me

"Of course!"

    3. dark hair like me and brown eyes

"The perfect choice."

    4. like motorsycols and cars like my dad

"Motorcycles, silly," she laughed at herself.

    5. J. T. Waite

For once, Caitie couldn't comment on one thing. The last item on her list just made her froze.

"J. T. Waite?" she trailed off as the paper hovered to the newly cleaned carpet. 

Caitie looked on as the paper settled to the floor.

"It couldn't be him," Caitie told herself. "It's just a coincidence. Besides, his middle name does not start with T…"

A worried look came to Caitie's face.

"Timothy…oh my God, it **is** him! No! He's my best friend…I…no. Jamie? It can't be him. After all these years, this is what I get? I had a bad feeling about this. I need to get away from here. This is too much."

Caitie took the note, crumpled it, and stuck it in her pocket to throw it away later. She grabbed her coat, took the car keys, and stormed out of the house before her mom could say something to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After an hour of driving, Caitie found herself at Kingsport High School.

"Of all the places to take me, this is what you came up with?" Caitie said to no one in particular. 

Now that she was there, she decided to go to her retreat --- the only place where she can truly calm down and let her mind go loose. Caitie cut across the field and headed straight for the bleachers. As she went under the bleachers, she saw a profile of a man lurking in the shadows. The figure was heading towards her. Caitie began to back away when the figure called her name.

"Caitie, it's just me. Jamie."

__

'Great! Of all the people to run into…well, at least he's not a serial killer.'

"Jamie! What are you doing here?"

"The same reason why you came here. You did come here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Well, yea, but I just wanted to be alone for a while."

"What does that give you? I mean, I can leave if you want."

"No, don't bother. I'll go."

Before Caitie could leave, Jamie grabbed her arm.

"Would you stay for a while? Please? For me? I want to tell you something."

Caitie made the mistake of looking into Jamie's eyes._ 'Brown eyes,' _she thought.

"OK, I'll stay."

Jamie took her hand and let her sit down across him. As he settled to the ground, the song that played on the radio a while ago returned to his head…

__

Right now

Face to face

All my fears

Pushed aside

And right now

I'm ready to spend the rest of my life

With you

Jamie looked around him as if he was expecting the some sort of radio around him.

"Jamie, are you feeling all right?"

"Yea," he said as he returned his attention to her.

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Well, there isn't an easy way to tell you this, but…"

"Jamie, sometimes the right things to say are not the easiest to do."

"Right… Caitie, you're my best friend and I don't want to lose you."

"OK…"

"But until today, I didn't realize how crazy I am for you."

Caitie looked at Jamie's eyes, searching for the truth. As of the moment, she found no reason whatsoever to doubt him. His eyes revealed just how sincere he was.

"Jamie, I…"

"Hear me out for a sec. You don't know what I went through this past few hours. You don't know what those two guys made me realize…"

"What two guys?"

"No one…don't interrupt me."

"Sorry."

"They made me realize that I liked you a lot more than what friendship has to offer. And even my mom added to all of this. Even though I didn't know it at the time, I dreamed of you. I already pledged my love for you…"

"You mean the c-a-r stuff?"

"If you want to call it that, but I did say it before. And don't tell me that it's just a big coincidence. It's beyond that. I remember the first time that we met. Something happened that day that I will never forget. I don't even know where to begin…"

"Time froze."

"Yea…time fr…how did you guess what I was thinking?"

"Because I felt it, too, Jamie. I never told a single soul about it, especially you, but it did happen. Now I know I wasn't alone."

"What does this all mean? These kind of things only happen in fantasy novels. It's not real."

"You want to know something?"

"What?"

"I dreamed of you, too."

"Come on, Caitie. This is no laughing matter."

"Am I laughing?"

"I guess not, but how can you say that you dreamed of me?"

Caitie reached for a piece of paper in her pocket. She smoothened the paper and handed it to Jamie. Jamie had a confused look on his face as he reached for the flashlight that he brought along with him.

"Val and I made this curse when we were eight. She got the idea about this prince charming thing or whatever, but somehow she coerced me to do it. We wrote on a piece of paper the qualities that we liked our prince to have. And after all these years, I found out that it was you."

Jamie read the note, and looked skeptically at the piece of paper.

"J. T. Waite? How did you come up with that?"

"We had to come up with something at the end. It wasn't even supposed to be spelled like your last name, but somehow I spelled it that way. Anyway, it came from the line that I spoke often back then, which is 'just wait.'"

Jamie remained speechless as he looked at Caitie once again.

"I guess it's…" Caitie began.

"Fate," Jamie finished.

After a brief moment of silence, Caitie stood up.

"Do you want a ride home?"

"Sure," he replied as he gladly took her hand.

When they arrived at Jamie's house, they stayed in the car for a while.

"What do you think this all means, Jamie?"

"I don't know."

"It's weird, isn't it?"

"The weirdest thing that has happened in my life."

"I'll see you around, J. T. Waite."

Jamie cautiously leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Caitie's lips before pulling apart from her.

"I'll see you, CAR," he remarked as he got out of the car.

Jamie watched as Caitie drove off. Before he came in, he saw two birds on top of the tree and smiled. He went up to his room as soon as he came into the house. He noticed that his radio was not turned off. As he took the time to turn it off, he can't help but smile.

"I have to thank those Evan and Jaron guys."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

I hope you guys liked it! I know that I'm not an expert at Bleacher Junkies stuff, but I hope that was enough. The next chapter will be out as soon as I finish writing it. Don't forget to review and thanks for reading J I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182


	10. For the first time

For the first time __

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' The song "For the First Time" is by Kenny Loggins. I'm sorry it took me this long to write. I haven't been able to spare some time to do this. At least summer is almost here.

****

Initial Attraction

For the first time - Tyler and Val - Chapter 10

Val woke up at the noise she had heard from inside her room._ 'It must be Brooke,'_ She opened her eyelids and saw Brooke carrying a box outside.

"What are you doing?" Val asked with a yawn. "And that's a box of my stuff."

"We're having a yard sale. Mom told me to bring down all the junk that we have."

"Well, my stuff are not junk."

"They are now," Brooke said as she left the room.

Val shook her head and went to the bathroom to freshen up. After she finished, she went downstairs and decided what to have for breakfast. She saw her mom putting some dishes in the dishwasher. As usual, some French toasts and some juice were left on the table, most likely for her.

"Mom?" Val asked. "What's this yard sale all about? And why is Brooke taking my old stuff out?"

"It was your dad's idea," Joanna Lanier replied as she turned to her daughter. "And I don't know why Brooke is doing what she's doing. Do you have some important stuff in there?"

"Maybe," Val said. "I have to go to the station later. If there's anything that you think I might need or want to keep, could you set them aside?"

"Sure," she said before returning to her work.

After Val finished her breakfast, she went back up to her room. Getting all the stuff that she needed, she bid her family goodbye and headed for the station. When she got there, only a few people were present. She went into the common room, and accidentally knocked a bunch of folders on the file cabinet.

"This is a nice welcome," she mumbled before picking the papers up.

She noticed that there was a signed note on top. It said:

__

Dear Brooke,

I included Alex's note in here somewhere. I found this on the couch. You'll probably get this either the day after I wrote this note or the following day after that. Hopefully, Alex won't be here then. In case he forgets, I'm on my camping trip. I hope I saved you from the wrath of Alex. I'll see you later, Shorty.

Tyler

The note brought a smile to her face for no particular reason. As she continued to pick the papers up, she noticed that they were files containing personal info on Tyler, Hank, Jamie, and herself. Absent-mindedly, Val found herself looking through her co-workers' info and reading them out loud.

"James Timothy Waite," she said before giving a small giggle. "The name seems nothing like a rebel."

She continued to look through the papers.

"Tyler Parker Connell," she spoke quietly. "Nice name. It suits him perfectly I guess."

She finally got to the last pile.

"Hank Beecham," she read. "His name seems so professional. Straight to the point."

After she finished stacking up the folders, she put them in the cabinet to save Brooke from any trouble, putting Tyler's in Brooke's notebook on the counter. Suddenly, Jamie came through the door.

"Good morning, Valerie," greeted a sleepy Jamie Waite. "So, what's up? Anything new happening?"

"Not that I know of, James Timothy," she replied before going to her locker.

"OK," Jamie said before turning back to Val. "What did you just call me?"

"I believe it was James Timothy," she called out from the locker room.

"Who told you? Did Caitie tell you?"

"Nobody," she replied.

"Sure," Jamie said. "Just, you know, don't tell anybody."

"Why? Cause it might ruin your rebel rep?"

"You read my mind," he said as the alarm buzzed.

"Now the work begins," exclaimed Val as she ran to the ambulance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler already finished packing the rest of his belongings. His parents gave him the choice of either staying or leaving, in which he gladly chose to leave. William and his mother are still packing their things. Tyler sat on a log, which was located beside the tree where the letters Tyler carved out were on. He continued to gaze at it as if it was going to disappear any time soon. It was all he could think about the whole night, he wondered if he was even able to sleep.

"Tyler!" called out his mom. "Are you coming?"

"Yea," he answered. "I'll be right there."

Taking one last look at the engraved initials, Tyler left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Val had been working on paperwork all day long. She had been in the station since nine o'clock, and it was almost five. She and Jamie were the only ones on duty from their usual squad. Tyler was still on his camping trip, while Hank had some business with Hannah. Val looked over the bunk bed, and saw one of Jamie's arms dangling from the top bunk. With that, Val continued to work.

"Hey Val!" greeted Brooke. "Any calls lately?"

"Not for the last two hours," she replied. "By the way, Tyler left a note for you, probably before he went camping. It's in your notebook."

Brooke grabbed the notebook and read the note.

"Thank goodness. I thought I was going to get it trouble with Alex."

"Yea. So, what brings you here?" 

"I just came by to pick up some papers and to show you this, which I think you want nothing to do with."

Brooke showed Val an old box that seemed to be covered with a bunch of adhesive tape. Val looked at the box curiously, trying to dig through her brains of any memory of the box. As Brooke proceeded to throw in the trash, Val stopped her.

"Wait Brooke!" she yelled out. "Give me that. That's mine."

"This junk?" Brooke asked. "This seems so antique."

"Well, maybe. Just give it to me."

"What is this?" Brooke asked as she gave her the box.

"It's just something back from the days."

"What's in this thing anyway?"

"A piece of paper."

"About what?"

"About something that's completely none of your business."

"Can I see it anyway?" Brooke asked hopefully.

"Maybe."

"Fine," said Brooke as she left Val alone. "I'm going home after I get the papers. Mom said to be home by dinner time."

"OK," said Val. "I'll see you later."

As Brooke left, Val eyed the box on the table. _'How long has it been? Eight years? Should I open it? Should I call Caitie first? Well, we didn't decide on any particular date, or if we should open this together. I'm dying to know what I wrote. What was it about anyway? Oh yea, I remember. But I can't open it. What if the person exists? But then, what if he doesn't? I just hope the saying **"curiosity killed the cat"** is not true.'_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After another six hours, Tyler and his family finally arrived home. He was now in his room, looking out the window.

"Maybe I was just hallucinating," he tried to convince himself. "Maybe it really wasn't her. Maybe I just read the papers wrong. Maybe it wasn't her name. Maybe it was another Lanier working at the station. Maybe they typed the whole info wrong. Maybe someone changed the carvings on the tree. Maybe it was Hannah talking about the whole thing back then. Maybe it was all a dream. Man, I'm so pathetic."

Tyler continued to rattle for an hour, before finally deciding to take action. 

"OK, I know what I did and said before, and I know what was on that tree," he started talking to himself once again. "The only thing I need to prove that this is real is to look at the files again. I'll just say I left something, and then I would quickly look at them. OK, that's what I'm going to do."

Tyler stood up and headed outside to his car. He only had one place in mind: the EMS station. When he got there, a few people greeted him. After the short greetings, Tyler immediately headed for the file cabinet and started looking for the folders. Little did he know that someone was watching him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Val was on the process of opening the box when he heard hurried footsteps coming towards her direction. She looked and was surprised to see Tyler. She was about to greet him when Tyler just opened the file and started going through the folders. Curious, she decided to get his attention.

"Tyler!" she called out with a cheery voice and a matching smile. "What are you doing here?"

Caught by surprise, Tyler accidentally slammed the cabinet shut, causing his left hand to be jammed in the middle. He let out a small cry of pain._ 'What is she doing here?'_ Tyler felt his knees start to buckle. Immediately, he leaned on the cabinet for safety measures. _'Just smile and act cool. Why did she have to be here? And why did she have to smile? Stop smiling, Val! OK, now I'm officially psycho. Like she would really hear my thoughts. Say something, you grinning idiot!'_

"That hurt," he said calmly, despite the fact that his hand felt like it had a thousand needles going through it. "Hey Val!"

"Are you all right?" Val asked in concern as she walked towards him. "Let me see your hand. It looks broken. Come here."

Val took his right hand and led him to the counter as she took out a first aid kit. As Val was trying to fix his hand, all Tyler could do was look at her.

__

Are those your eyes?

Is that your smile?

I've been looking at you forever

But I never saw you before

Are these your hands holding mine?

Now I wonder how I could've been so blind

For the first time I am looking in your eyes

For the first time I'm seeing who you are

I can't believe how much I see

When you're looking back at me

Now I understand what love is.....

Love is.....for the first time.....

"You're all done," she said as she noticed him staring at her. "Did it hurt?"

"No, not at all," Tyler said as he looked at his bandaged hand.

"You still need to see the doctor however," informed Val. "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier."

"That's OK. It was partly my fault for not being careful."

"So, what are you doing here this early?"

"Hannah and her family had to leave early. After they left, we decided to just go home as well."

"Did you have fun?"

"I guess. Um, are you still on duty?"

"Only for a few more minutes."

Tyler nodded his head and looked around the room. He noticed Jamie still sleeping. He continued to look around and saw a box near the seat Val was sitting on earlier.

"What's that thing?" he asked.

"It's just something Caitie and I did a long time ago."

"Well, what is it?"

"It's some kind of magical stuff. Curses. Whatever you call them."

Hearing the words magical and curses put a smile on Tyler's face.

"You believe on those?"

"Probably not as much as I did when I was little."

"Can we open it?"

"I don't know…"

"Come on. What have you got to lose?"

"Please don't laugh if you see it."

"I promise I won't."

With that, Val led him to the couch as she resumed opening the box, When she finally got all the tape off, she opened it and found a neatly folded pink paper.

"I can't believe I haven't thought of this in ages," she whispered to herself, although it was completely audible in Tyler's ears. "This was just a list that Caitie and I made about some guy we made up. Some guy we wished for. He was supposed to be my prince charming. That sort of thing. Anyway, I'll read them now. And don't laugh."

Tyler just nodded, even though he wasn't really paying attention anymore to whatever Val was saying. He was just enthralled by her smile and the joyful look expressed in her eyes.

"One: blond hair and blue eyes. Two: taller than me. Three: perfect smile."

Tyler just nodded. Val looked over him and saw him staring at her again._ 'Why is he doing that? OK, just keep reading. Maybe he'll eventually stop.'_

"Four: sporty like Dad. I guess that means athletic. Five: gentleman. "

As she looked over at Tyler once again, she can't help but be drawn into his eyes. _'This is not good. Stop staring at me, Tyler! OK, just don't look directly in his eyes. Don't look and keep reading.'_

"Six: has the initials T. P. C., which means 'the prince charming.'"

Val slowly turned towards Tyler, hoping for any comment from him whatsoever, but all she got was that same look in his eyes. _'Don't look into them. If you do, you'll drown. I am not going to look is his eyes. I am not going to look in his eyes. I am not going to look in his eyes. I am…looking…in his…eyes.'_ Without a clue to whatever was happening, Val found herself leaning forward for a kiss. Tyler on the other hand, was doing the same thing. After she felt his tender lips on hers, it seemed as though a storm had just come over her.

__

Can this be real? 

Can this be true?

Am I the person I was this morning?

And are you the same you?

It's all so strange 

How can it be?

All along this love was right in front of me

For the first time I am looking in your eyes

For the first time I'm seeing who you are

I can't believe how much I see

When you're looking back at me

Now I understand what love is.....

Love is.....for the first time.....

Val pulled back, and Tyler looked on as she started to mumble a few words.

"T…P…C…initials…"

"What?" Tyler asked bewildered.

"Tyler Parker Connell…you…TPC…the initials…on paper…"

"What about my initials?"

Val started to back away. At the moment, she can't even think straight. _'I knew I never should have opened that box. Now curiosity is going to kill - - - the cat. But it's him. I can't believe it's him. It can't be him. He's Tyler. He's my friend. I've known him for a few years. I work with him. Did I read that paper correctly? I can't even look at him straight in the face.'_

"Val? Where are you going? Why are you running away from me?"

"I can't," was all she could say.

Tyler looked down and saw the paper she was talking about. She remembered her saying something about some guy she made up and supposedly her prince charming. She remembered her saying something about magic. Something about curses. A wish. Tyler finished reading the paper, and to his surprise, it was as if he was reading a sketch of himself.

"This is me…" he told her. "You made a curse for me."

"No," Val said. "There was a mistake. It can't be you. You're Tyler."

"Why not?" Tyler said as his expression grew serious. "I wished for you, too."

"You know, that's not going to make me feel any better, or this whole situation for that matter," said Val.

"I DID!" Tyler almost yelled. "If you don't believe me, go to the place where I went camping. You'll find a tree. On there is something I also made up a long time ago. I specifically asked for a person. Someone that deemed to be impossible to me then. And it turned out it was you. That's the reason why I came here."

"Tyler, these things are not bound to happen. That's why they're called magic. Curses. They don't come true. They're not real."

Tyler went over to Val and grabbed one of her hands.

"Then why can I hold your hand? Why can I see your beautiful face? Why can I hear your voice? Why can I feel things for you and only you? Why are you in my life? Why are you real? Val, even the impossible comes true. And when they do, they just do. And it only means that it's truly meant to be."

Val was speechless. She can feel a tear falling from her eyes. She knew that he was right, but everything just seems like a fantasy story. A fairy tale. Fairy tales end, and she didn't want this to end.

"You know the first time we met," Val started to say. "Something like this happened. Well, not really quite like this, but something out of the ordinary. Time stopped, Tyler. You can call me crazy, but it did. Now tell me the truth. Do you believe me?"

"I do," Tyler responded with nothing more but sincerity in his voice. "I have never even thought of that until you mentioned it today. It's one of the reasons why I would never forget you. It was as if time left a special place…"

"…For us," Val continued as she gazed once more into his eyes.

__

Such a long time ago

I had given up on finding this emotion....ever again

But you're here with me now

Yes I've found you somehow

And I've never been so sure

And for the first time I am looking in your eyes

For the first time I'm seeing who you are

Can't believe how much I see

When you're looking back at me

Now I understand what love is.....

Love is.....for the first time..... 

Val reached out for Tyler's face.

"You are real," she whispered to him. "I just can't believe it's you."

Tyler did nothing but give her a smile.

"This is kind of awkward, isn't it?"

"Yea," Val said with a nervous laugh as she took her hand off the side of his face. "Weird."

"We'll manage," Tyler reached for her face to assure her. "Well, I better go see the doctor now."

"Yea," Val said. "You should."

With his hand still on her face, he went over to Val and gave her a kiss on the forehead, and then one on her lips.

"I'll see you later," he whispered on her mouth. "I can call you, right?"

"Yea," Val said.

"Bye," Tyler said before leaving her.

As Tyler got in his car, he noticed something different. He looked at his left hand. It was still covered with some bandages. He took the bandage off, and to his surprise, his hand wasn't hurt. In fact, it wasn't even broken.

"I guess the magic lives on," he said with a smile before heading home. "And I guess miracles do come true after all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

I hope you liked it. It took me a while, but I had no time to write for the past two weeks. Plus I was sick. And Amanda, I hope this meets your satisfaction : ) I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182


	11. You can't fight fate

You can't fight fate - Hank - Ch11 __

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney (if they decide to keep it), and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' The song "You Can't Fight Fate" is by Diane Warren/Taylor Dayne. 

****

Initial Attraction

You can't fight fate - Hank - Chapter 11

Hank could not believe what had just happened. One by one everything just started to fall into place. For a moment, everything he never dreamed of happening came true. _'This is too big to be a coincidence. This is the place I made that curse. And the boy had the same name as my friend. And…"_

"Hank?" called out a voice.

"What?"

"Are you OK? You look…pale. Seen a ghost?"

"No…I'm fine…I mean, no ghost," Hank said as he worked his way away from Hannah.

Hannah looked on as Hank headed towards the other side of the room.

"That's strange," she said before attending to another student.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, the class was just about ready to leave.

"Did you kids have fun?" asked Mrs. Pallette.

"YEA!" 

"Thank Hannah and Hank, kids."

"THANK YOU HANNAH AND HANK!"

"You're welcome," replied Hannah as she glanced towards a spaced out Hank. "Hank! They're saying thank you to us."

"Oh…you're all welcome," he said and forced a smile for the kids.

The bell rang and the students were dismissed. Hank immediately grabbed all his stuff and headed for the door.

__

You can tell the truth

You can tell a lie

You can try to run from

What you feel inside

And tell yourself…tell yourself you don't need me

"What's the rush?" Hannah asked him. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"No."

"You have to help me clean up," she told him. "What's with you today?"

"Nothing," he told her once again. "Let's just hurry up."

As they proceeded on their task, Hannah couldn't help but notice that Hank was fidgeting. He was as nervous as a mouse in a cat's paws. Literally, he kept dropping things every two minutes. Brushing the thoughts out of her head, she continued to do her work. After wiping marks off of thirteen tables, Hannah came across the only sole table that coerced a smile on her lips. It was a circle with the initials HB + HB on it. She figured it was one of the kids since they both wrote their name on the board.

"Hank!" she called out. "Take a look at this. It's really cute.

Hank looked over to where Hannah standing and was only met with uneasiness. Trying to come up of a way to get away from the subject, Hank grabbed a couple of trash bags.

"I…uh…I'll throw this…this away…uh…trash," he stuttered. "OK bye."

With that, Hank stormed out of the classroom, leaving a baffled Hannah in the room.

__

You can walk away

From what you know is right

Think you won't be thinking about me at night

And tell yourself…tell yourself it'll be easy

And you might believe it

But don't be misleaded

You might think it will be that way

But you know

You can't fight fate

You can run

But you can't run away

No matter what you do

No matter what you say

When it's meant to be

It's gonna be that way

You can't fight fate

As soon as he found the trash bin, Hank was fighting with himself of going back to face Hannah or sparing himself and run away. In his heart, he knew what he must do. _'I have to face her. I liked her anyway. Even before I remembered this. But what if I mess up? What if she thinks I'm a psycho weird maniac? What if she doesn't believe me? This is too much for me to deal with right now.' _Despite the fact of knowing what was the right thing to do, his mind had won the debate. Hank hurried outside the building and onto his car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hannah remained seated on one of the desks as she patiently waited for Hank's return.

"Where the heck are you, Hank?" she asked herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Hank was still a no-show. _'How hard is it to throw two garbage bags. And I thought he knew his way around.'_ By now, Hannah was getting a little worried. _'I wonder who wrote this. Did Hank see this already?' _Once again, she took a look at the initials on the desk. 

"Sometimes I couldn't help but wish you wrote this," Hannah whispered to herself without realizing the presence of the being behind her.

"Are you talking about the two initials, dear?" asked Mrs. Pallette.

Hannah almost immediately jumped out of the desk.

"I'm sorry," said the old lady. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm fine," Hannah told her. "And I was just looking at the thing one of your kids wrote."

Mrs. Pallette smiled at her, and Hannah knew from the twinkle in her eyes that there was a story behind this whole thing.

"You're right," she said. "One of my kids did write this."

"I thought so," replied Hannah.

"I believe it was a mere eight years ago. It's a wonder how it never got erased."

"Excuse me? Eight years?"

"You said it. Do you want to know who?"

"Well, yea, I guess."

"Mr. Beecham."

"WHAT?"

"You're friend Hank."

"How? Why? That's my initials in there too."

"I remember that day. It's funny how I never forgot about it. Two ladies from my class were making curses about the boy they will live happily ever after with. I thought it was really cute, but I didn't say anything. I just listened in. After that, I found out that I wasn't the only one listening."

She looked over to Hannah, who nodded intently.

"Hank and his friend, Toby, heard the girls as well. Hank started talking about how he believes in those thing. He then told Toby about a secret. As I recall, it was about the girl that he's going to marry someday. I think she had to have the same initials as him, and she had to be different in some way or the other. It was the cutest thing, don't you think so?"

She glanced over Hannah, expecting a reply, but she heard nothing. The look on Hannah's face was of shock and uncertainty.

"What's wrong?" she asked before realizing what had just happened. "Oh…oh…I see. Wow, this is…something. I better leave you alone for a while. Don't forget to lock the door."

Mrs. Pallette left as soon as she got her bag, but she couldn't help but smile at what had just occurred.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hank had been driving around town for thirty minutes. He did this in hopes of getting her out of his mind but was unsuccessful. Hank looked around at the people on the streets and all he could see was Hannah's face. _'Get out of my head! Leave me alone. Stop doing this to me.'_

__

You can drive your car

Drive it night and day

But you won't ever drive…drive me away

I'll be in your heart…in your heart forever

I was meant to be with you

You were meant to be with me

Now what's it gonna take to make you see

We were meant to be…meant to be…be together

You might not understand it

Oh but that's what the plan is

And it's something that you can't change

After a couple more hours of driving, Hank was now close to home when he forgot about something.

"Oh man," he said in a whining tone. "I have to drive her home."

Hank figured she must have left already, but something made him go back into his car and to the school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To his luck, the school was still open. Hank cautiously headed for Mrs. Pallette's classroom. When he got there, he noticed that the lights were off.

"I guess you left already," Hank whispered.

He turned away, but something once again made him go back. He gently put his hand on the door, and to his surprise, it was still open. Hank turned on the lights, but surprise overcame him as he saw the last person he wanted to see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hannah looked up and met Hank's gaze. She still couldn't believe what she had heard. _'He must think I'm crazy for staying here after he left hours ago. Or maybe not.'_

"Are you back to throw the rest of the bags," she said as she pointed out 3 more trash bags.

"No," he said. _'This is it. Either I stay or go. As much as I love to run away, Hank Beecham is not a chicken. I must do the right thing.'_

"Why did you come back?"

"I was supposed to drive you home," Hank told her. "I thought you might still be here."

"Hank," she said in an attempt to change the subject. "I want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"The table. The initials. The curse. Everything."

"I don't believe in curses."

"Really? Or you just refuse to because it came true?"

"How did you…"

"Your teacher told me. She overheard what you were saying."

"I didn't say anything about…"

"Eight years ago."

Hank remembered that exact date. But now that Hannah knew, he couldn't make himself say anything.

"Are you afraid? Scared?"

"No…yes…maybe," said Hank as he ran his hand onto his shaved head.

"Do you believe in fate?"

"Maybe," he said as he looked at her. "But how am I supposed to feel? It's you."

"How about me? What about what I feel?"

"Maybe this is just a coincidence. A fluke. A quirk."

"Hank, these things just don't happen."

"Yes they do."

"Yea…in fairy tales and movies."

"But how do you explain fate?"

__

But you know

You can't fight fate

You can run

But you can't run away

No matter what you do

No matter what you say

When it's meant to be

It's gonna be that way

You can't fight fate

"You can't. It just happens."

"But I was the only one who wished for you. I was the only one who experienced anything strange for that matter. You didn't."

Hannah looked down towards the ground.

"Besides," continued Hank. "This is not good for us. We're friends. We can't ruin anything. You mean too much to me to lose you."

Hank took one last look at her before leaving the door.

"Did you get a new watch?" called out Hannah.

"What?"

"Did you get a new watch?"

Hank took a look at his wrist.

"No," he answered. "I've had this since the first day of high school. Why?"

"When we first met, did your watch break?"

"No," Hank said. "That's why I still have it."

"I still have mine," Hannah said. "But did it seem to be broken for some minutes, and then work again."

At first, Hank thought she just wanted to make a conversion. A pointless one. But as she continued to talk, Hank knew that she had a point. He remembered his watch stopping. Actually, all the clocks in the school stopped.

"I remember," he said. "I thought I was going nuts. When we talked, it seemed to have lasted for thirty minutes at least, but nothing happened. My watch still said that it was…"

"Seven."

Hank smiled and looked at his watch again. It was 7:00. He slowly found his way across the room and sat beside Hannah.

"You went through that as well?"

"It was probably the scariest thing in my life. Kind of like the X-Files or the Twilight Zone."

"You just don't see it everyday."

"I know."

"You just don't see time…"

"Seize everyday."

Hank smiled as he cautiously grabbed a hold of her hand.

"What now?" he asked.

"I don't know, but time will tell us one day."

"Do you…um…need a ride?"

"What do you think?"

"Stupid question," said Hank as he helped her get up from her seat. "I'll take the trash out first." 

After Hank threw the bags, he and Hannah walked hand in hand towards the exit.

"Wait!" said Hannah. "Stay right here. I forgot to close the door."

"OK. I'll wait in the car."

Hannah ran towards the classroom. As she went over to lock it, the door was already locked.

"That's strange," she said. "OK. This is just too weird. Note to self: never come back to this place again."

With that, she ran outside and met up with Hank.

"Did you lock it?" asked Hank.

Hannah just nodded as Hank turned the ignition on and drove off.

__

And you might believe it

Oh but don't be misleaded

There are just some things that you can't change

But you know

You can't fight fate

You can run

But you can't run away

No matter what you do

No matter what you say

When it's meant to be

It's gonna be that way

You can't fight fate

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

There's only one more chapter left. I hope you liked it. I'll be back! ~ Scaret182


	12. All's well that ends well

Alls Well That Ends Well - Chapter 12 __

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney (if they decide to keep it), and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.' The song "I Knew I Loved You" is by one and only - - - Savage Garden. This song practically tells the whole story, don't you think? I don't own MTV as well (like that was a shocker :) Anyway, the last chapter is here *sobs : (* I hope you guys like it. 

A/N: This chapter happens the day after Hannah and Hank's story. 

****

Initial Attraction

All's well that ends well - Chapter 12

(The following morning)

Hannah woke up at the loud sound coming from the radio on her alarm clock. Normally, she would just hit the snooze button and go back to bed. This morning, however, did not have any effect as such whatsoever. All that was evident was the smile on her face. The night before, she just had the most amazing, yet inexplicable encounter with Hank. 

"Hank," she whispered to herself.

On regular basis, saying the name seemed just like saying any other name. This time, as the words jump off the tip of her tongue, she could feel thrills going through her body.

"Who would have thought?" she said to herself as she turned of the radio and headed for the bathroom to freshen up a bit.

After a few refreshing minutes, Hannah finally got out of the bathroom. She turned on her stereo and selected a random CD. As she was getting ready for her routine morning jog, the pleasant sound from the stereo was replaced with an ear-splitting static. Heading towards the system with hands covering both ears, Hannah reached for the volume dial. As her fingers were only a mere millimeter away from the dial, the static seized abruptly, making her pull her hand away as a reflex. All of a sudden, the CD changer moved to another CD, and a certain song started to fill the room…

__

Maybe it's intuition

But some things you just don't question

Like in your eyes, I see my future in an instant

And there it goes,

I think I found my best friend

I know that it might sound

More than a little crazy

But I believe...

I knew I loved you before I met you

I think I dreamed you into life

I knew I loved you before I met you

I have been waiting all my life

The song brought a smile to her face. It was one of her favorites. 

"I must have listened to this a thousand times," she whispered to herself. "But only now do I understand what it truly means."

She turned off the stereo and headed for the door with a portable CD player in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(That afternoon)

Caitie found herself standing in front of the Lanier porch, ringing the doorbell. This time of the day, Caitie would usually be either at home, writing or making art, or she would be hanging out with Jamie.

"My James Timothy," Caitie said absentmindedly.

A coughing noise from the person in front of her caused Caitie to look up.

"Brooke!" she said in a cracking tone. "I was just…I didn't…you didn't hear…it's not what you…"

"Spare me the details," Brooke said as she let Caitie in. "You're not the only one who's acting strange around here. Take my sister for example. She must have said Tyler's name fifty times with that same dreamy look you had moments ago."

"I didn't have a dreamy look."

"Sure, and the sky is green."

Caitie ignored her comment and asked for Val's whereabouts. 

"Where's your sister?"

"In the living room."

"Thanks."

Caitie easily found her way to the living and spotted Val sitting comfortably on the couch.

"Hey!" she greeted her as she positioned herself next to her. "What are you watching?"

"MTV."

"Why do you watch this?" Caitie asked. 

"It's cool."

"OK…well, why don't we stop watching this for a minute and talk?"

"What do you have in mind?" Val asked after turning off the TV.

"Remember that curse that you made up and made me do?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, I opened the box."

"And?"

"It's Jamie!"

Val's jaw almost dropped. Caitie handed her the piece of paper that she wrote on.

"It is Jamie," said Val. "Actually, I have something to tell you as well."

"What?"

"I opened mine too."

"Is that good or bad?"

"It's Tyler!"

"Are you serious?"

Val, in turn, handed her the piece of paper that she wrote on.

"His initials are TPC?"

"Tyler Parker Connell."

"Who would have guessed?" Caitie said with a smile. "And the whole J.T. Waite thing. It turned out that Jamie's middle name is…"

"Timothy," finished Val.

"How did you know?"

"It's a long story," Val said with a smile. "I'm so glad you brought this up. You're probably the only one who would understand. And Tyler."

"Same here with Jamie. What's really funny though is that in a way, he wished for me as well."

"Tyler told me the same thing. This is just so unreal."

"But it is, isn't it?" said Caitie.

"Yes. It is."

Val grabbed the remote and turned the TV on again. Caitie rolled her eyes and was about to leave, when a familiar tune caught her ear.

"Are you leaving already?" asked Val, whose eyes are still glued on the TV.

"Actually, I might watch this one," said Caitie.

The video for "I Knew I Loved You" was on…

__

There's just no rhyme or reason

Only the sense of completion

And in your eyes, I see

The missing pieces I'm searching for

I think I've found my way home

I know that it might sound

More than a little crazy

But I believe...

I knew I loved you before I met you

I think I dreamed you into life

I knew I loved you before I met you

I have been waiting all my life

After a few minutes later, the video ended.

"You probably didn't like that," said Val. "Do you want me to change the channel?"

"No. Actually, I might have just found a new favorite song."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Later that night)

Tyler, Hank, and Jamie were at the station doing inventories and reports. Hank and Tyler were sitting across each other, while Jamie sat at ease on the couch with both feet on the table. Beside his feet was the radio. "All the Small Things" by Blink 182 was on. Everyone was basically minding his business. And everyone seemed to be content.

A few songs later, a ballad started to flow out of the radio and creep into their ears. Ordinarily, whenever ballads or slow songs come out of the radio, any of the three would automatically turn it off. This time was the exception, for no one dared to move.

__

A thousand angels dance around you

I am complete now that I've found you

Hank pretended that he did not find anything significant in the song at all. He just put his head down and continued to focus in his work. _'As much as I seem to like this song, I should not say anything. I mean, what would Tyler and Jamie say? They'll probably tease me.'_

__

I knew I loved you before I met you

I think I dreamed you into life

I knew I loved you before I met you

I have been waiting all my life

Tyler cautiously looked up from his papers to see if anyone is watching him. He immediately put his head back down when he noticed Hank look up. _'Why isn't anyone turning the radio off, or even changing the station? Are they trying to trick me? This isn't funny at all. And it doesn't help when I actually…I actually…like it. It couldn't be truer. Every word practically screams Val. OK, just act as if you're not paying attention to it. Focus!'_

I knew I loved you before I met you

I think I dreamed you into life

I knew I loved you before I met you

I have been waiting all my life

Jamie shifted uncomfortably on the couch. He glanced towards the others to see if anyone is observing him. He quickly turned his head down when he saw Tyler move his head. _'At least the song is almost over. Why are they not even turning it off? Are they even listening to it? Is this a practical joke? Good song. Bad timing. The only good thing about this is that it reminds me of Caitie. Just try to act cool. I mean, no one would really think that I would listen to these things, right?'_

The three continued to act as if the song is not on. Out of the blue, Alex came into the room and asked for Val.

"Val, could you do me a fa…" he began saying but stopped when he did not see Val at all. "I'm sorry. I just thought Val would be here."

"Why would you think that?" Jamie asked as he straightened himself from his seat. "Val had the day off."

"Well, that slow song just came on, and I thought Val was here since she's the only one who listens to those. I guess I was wrong."

Alex tried to hold back the laughter that was forcing its way out of his mouth. _'I guess they're not so macho after all.'_

"No, no!" Hank yelled out. "You weren't wrong. It was just…um…Tyler?"

"Yea," he said. "You know…the radio was on…and uh…um…Jamie?"

"Well…the radio…Val…Val just came over to pick some things up. Yea. That's right."

"Yea," said Tyler. "She just came to pick up some papers."

"And when you came in, she just walked out of the door," added Hank.

"Yea," said Jamie once again. "Directly out."

"Then why was the song on for a long time?" asked Alex. 

"Val wanted to listen to it," said Hank. "Right Tyler?"

"Anything for Val," he said.

"All right," said Alex. "I guess I'll leave you guys alone."

After Alex left, Jamie turned off the radio.

"Basketball anyone?" he asked.

"Yea/Sure," said Hank and Tyler, respectively, as the three headed for the court.

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The End! What did you guys think? I had fun writing this. I hope you had fun reading it as well. Thanks to everyone who reviewed this fic! I promise there will be more to come. I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182


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